Schooled
"What's Celia complaining about this time? Did I wash my car on a Tuesday? Wear off-white before Labor Day?"
Sheriff Lee fidgeted and cleared his throat.
"Celia Arceneaux is dead, Fortune."
CIA operative Fortune Redding signs up for night classes, hoping to ease the boredom of her undercover assignment and update her computer skills. But an unfortunately-timed murder on the campus of Mudbug Technical College sends shock waves through the town of Sinful. And Fortune's life is turned upside down when she discovers who the prime suspect is. Now Fortune has to choose between lying low to avoid the ruthless arms dealer who's put a price on her head, and doing everything in her power to save someone she can't bear to lose.
More info →The Fever Cabinet
Through no fault of her own, Professor Molly just got promoted to department chair at Mahina State University ("Where Your Future Begins Tomorrow").
She has to mentor the department's new star, the prickly Fiona Spencer. The Student Retention Office has her buried in paperwork. Her college has just relocated to a former asylum, her budget is being slashed, and the air conditioning is broken. At least nothing else can go wrong.
Until Fiona finds a body in her office.
More info →The Musubi Murder
Our guest of honor may have been “The Most Hated Man in Hawaii,” but the College of Commerce was in no position to be picky. Not after the latest round of budget cuts.
After a brutal year on the academic job market, Professor Molly Barda has finally landed a job at Mahina State University ("Where Your Future Begins Tomorrow"). All she wants to do is keep her head down and stay out of trouble until she gets tenure. But then the wealthy and widely-hated Jimmy Tanaka, founder of Merrie Musubis lunch shop, pledges a huge donation to Molly's college and promptly disappears. Molly's venal dean, knowing Molly is in no position to refuse, orders her to track down the missing mogul. As Molly uncovers Mahina's ancient feuds and fresh scandals, she starts to fall for Tanaka's competitor...who might have few secrets of his own.
More info →Mary-Alice Moves In
Mary-Alice Arceneaux has decided to make her home in Sinful! Mayor Celia's sweet-natured and curious cousin is eager to settle into small-town life after moving from the big city (Mudbug, Louisiana). But before Mary-Alice can even unpack her bags, a man of the cloth dies under mysterious circumstances, a device with strange powers turns up in the glove box of her Oldsmobile 88, and her new friends, Ida Belle, Gertie, and young Fortune, are behaving oddly…even for Baptists.
More info →Trust Fall
Meetings can be murder. Literally.
It looks like it's going to be just another boring faculty retreat at Mahina State University, "Where Your Future Begins Tomorrow."
But then the Trust Fall exercise goes horribly wrong...
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More info →Aloha, Y’All
CIA operative Fortune Redding crossed a ruthless arms dealer. Now she's hiding out in remote Sinful, Louisiana, with a fake identity, fake hair, and a real price on her head. But just as she thinks she's safe, her handler warns that Ahmad's men are getting close. She has less than 24 hours to clear out and make it to the safe house in Hawaii. What's more, they'll be looking for a woman traveling alone, so Fortune needs a companion. A respectable, low-profile, non-trigger-happy companion. Which rules out Gertie and Ida Belle.
Mary-Alice Arceneaux just got a big surprise for her 70th birthday--a trip to Hawaii, courtesy of young Fortune Morrow. But with bounty hunters on their trail, and family secrets lurking in the unlikeliest of places, the southernmost state has a few more surprises in store.
More info →The Perfect Body
Professor Molly is thrilled to accompany Donnie to Mahina State's exclusive donor dinner. She doesn't expect to have to share a table with the insufferable Stephen Park and his tactless new girlfriend.
Turns out it's one thing to invite your toxic ex-boyfriend to drop dead...it's quite another when he takes you up on it.
More info →Bayou Busybody
Sinful's newest resident, Mary-Alice Arceneaux, is thrilled when Gertie introduces her to famous romance author Almira Galvez-Whitbread. But then Gertie and her friends have to leave town, and the very next day, Almira's husband disappears. With Gertie, Fortune, and Ida Belle gone, Mary-Alice finds that she's Almira's only friend...and that Almira's storybook marriage had been far less perfect than advertised. By the time Mary-Alice realizes she may be in danger, she's already in too deep. Now she has to find out what really happened to the faithless Geoffrey Whitbread--and prove she has what it takes to be a real Sinful Lady.
More info →The Case of the Defunct Adjunct
Professor Molly feels more relief than grief when Mahina State’s one-man hostile work environment keels over at a faculty retreat. She has no desire to get involved with the case, so it's an unpleasant surprise to find she already is involved. Now Professor Molly has to fight to keep the wrong person out of prison—and herself off the unemployment line.
If you like Dorothy Parker, Sarah Caudwell, P.G. Wodehouse, or E.F. Benson’s Mapp and Lucia stories, you’ll enjoy this tale of passion, pilferage, and petty politics in the middle of the Pacific.
More info →Black Widow Valley
Young men have been disappearing in Black Valley, New York--which now has the misfortune of being known as "Black Widow Valley." As it happens, Mary-Alice Arceneaux has a personal connection with the tiny community, and is called in to help. Mary-Alice is thrilled to be a part of the investigation--but by the time she arrives at the forbidding Kilmer House where she will spend the night, she realizes she may be in over her head.
This modern retelling of Lost Man's Lane takes the action from the sultry bayous of Southwest Louisiana to upstate New York's remote Black Valley. Mary-Alice is challenged to keep her wits about her when she gets herself invited to stay in the forbidding old mansion that appears to hold the key to a string of unspeakable crimes. Fortunately (or not), Sinful's Sheriff Robert E. Lee is on the case too!
More info →The Cursed Canoe
Seven on the crew. Six seats in the canoe. Everyone wants to paddle in the big Labor Day race. What could go wrong?
Professor Molly investigates a mysterious paddling accident, and realizes it isn’t just business majors who cheat to get what they want. Whether it’s moving up in the college rankings, getting a seat in the Labor Day canoe race, or just looking out for themselves, some people will do whatever it takes to sink the competition.
More info →The No-Tell Motel
When a young woman vanishes from a roadside motel, Mary-Alice and the gang leave Sinful and head across the border to find her. They soon find that the unprepossessing McCully Inn holds some Texas-sized secrets, which the influential McCully family would prefer to keep hidden.
But with the missing woman's life at stake, the ladies decide to keep poking around the McCully family closet and let the skeletons fall where they may. And with their technical know-how, decades of experience, and relaxed attitude about rules and procedures, they might just get to the truth.